Priest laments state of apparition site of Our Lady of Fatima in Spain

CNA Newsroom, Nov 4, 2022 / 17:00 pm

The restoration of the shrine on the site of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima to Sister Lucia in Pontevedra, Spain, is progressing, but Father Javier Siegrist noted that its condition, if it shows our love for the Virgin, “would make you break out in tears.”

In a recent YouTube video posted by the Cari Filii Foundation, Siegrist, a priest of the Diocese of Getafe in Spain, noted the progress of the restoration work on the place, including the new roof.

However, “it’s still insufficient and much aid is needed,” said the priest, who visited the work site and made an appeal for continued contributions to finance the reconstruction effort.

“The Virgin asked Lucia to spread the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary everywhere and all of us who love the Virgin can collaborate in this undertaking by contributing our little bit,” the priest said.

Siegrist stressed that the Shrine of the Apparitions in Pontevedra “has a very similar impact and continues the message of Fatima” and therefore “we cannot allow it to continue in this dilapidated state.”

“If it should be said that faith is expressed by its manifestations, of course, if this manifests faith and our love for the Virgin, it would make you break out in tears,” the priest commented.

Siegrist encouraged everyone to “collaborate in this beautiful undertaking that is to spread the message of the Immaculate Heart and the need to console the heart of the Virgin so surrounded with thorns for the sins that we ungrateful men pierce it with.”

The Shrine of the Apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima in Pontevedra was acquired by the Spanish Bishops’ Conference in 2021 to try to save it from the state of neglect it was in. It previously was owned by the World Apostolate of Fatima in Spain.

The repair project will cost nearly $900,000, of which barely $250,000 has been raised, although it has been enough to complete the first phase, consisting of completing the roof and redoing the floor of the cell where Sister Lucia received the apparitions.

Sister Lucia was visited by the Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus in this place Dec. 10, 1925. According to Lucia herself, the Child said: “Have compassion for your Mother’s heart. It is surrounded with thorns that ungrateful men pierce at each moment, and there is no one who does acts of reparation to remove them.”

Then Our Lady encouraged Sister Lucia to reveal the devotion of the first five Saturdays of the month that she had already received in 1917.

Donations for the restoration of the sanctuary of the apparitions can be made through the website www.santuariodelasapariciones.org/.

(Note: Do not request a receipt for tax purposes, which applies to Spanish citizens only. Click “others” for type of document and for document number to enter, for example, a driver's license number.)

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.